


Chasing Scarves

by Axel770



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M, Romance, based loosely on high speed, i dont know where i'm going with this, probably fluff, this started out as a drabble
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-05
Updated: 2013-11-05
Packaged: 2017-12-31 14:51:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Axel770/pseuds/Axel770
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haruka was never keen on conveying his feelings towards others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chasing Scarves

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a drabble that was supposed to help me get rid of makoharu feels. Haha and no it didn't help. I posted the previous work in fanfiction under the same title (so I dunno, this might seem familiar to some people) But then! I found this lovely little site and decided to polish it and post it here! Also, near the end I got lazy so it might seem just a little bit  
> (a lot) sloppy. This was such a delight to write btw. So thank you for giving this a try and I hope you enjoy! :3

Haruka was never keen on conveying his feelings towards others. He had soon come to regret this.

It had happened one cold morning in the fall. And for the first time in a long time, Haruka was walking to school, alone. Tachibana Makoto was nowhere in sight. It was an unusual sight to behold as the two were rarely seen without the other. Haruka could only remember a few instances, even as kids, wherein Makoto was not by his side. And usually, as was the case now, there was only ever one reason Makoto would leave his beloved best friend’s side. Well... two reasons really.

One named Ran and the other named Ren.

During supper last night, an argument had broken out between the two and since then they have constantly been at each other’s throats. Makoto, being the caring older brother that he is, had taken it upon himself to try to get his sibling to make up. In an effort to do so, he had promised to walk with them to school today and on the way, drop by the convenience store to buy them each their favourite snack.

And so after Makoto had gotten Haru out of the tub that morning, he had told him to head on to school without him and Haru who could hear the twins bickering last night all the way from his room, needed no further explanation and merely nodded once. Makoto gently smiled back in response. _Thank you for understanding_. He waited until Haruka was safely in the kitchen and the smell of mackerel started wafting through the air before he decided to leave. But just as he was about to open the front door, Makoto abruptly stopped in his tracks.

‘Ah. That’s right. Almost forgot.’

“Haruka!” he called out to his friend.

Haru was in the middle of heating up his breakfast to come to the door so he answered from the kitchen, “What is it?”

“It’s been getting really cold lately so don’t forget to bring a scarf with you, okay?”

‘Nagger.’ Haruka thought, slightly peeved at Makoto’s overprotective nature.

“I’m not nagging you! I just don’t want you to catch a cold!”

Haru decided not to respond, preferring to focus on the mouth-watering scent of mackerel in the air and the way his tummy grumbled in anticipation for upcoming meal. Makoto knew better however and took Haru’s silence as compliance to his request.

“I’m going now!” Makoto called out before finally leaving the Nanase household.

* * *

 

After getting dressed and eating his breakfast of mackerel and toast, Haru headed off to school alone. Makoto was right, as usual. It really was getting chillier outside. Haru’s breath coming out as a white hazy mist was proof of this. When a strong gust of wind blew past him, strong enough to make him squint, he was suddenly thankful for the warmth and protection the piece of fabric wrapped around his neck offered him.

Haruka shuffled the scarf closer to his face, taking in its musty scent from being stored away for almost a year.  He was going to have to wash it tonight. Haru glanced over to his left to the familiar sight of the ocean stretching over the horizon but regretted it almost instantly as a strong breeze hit him square in the face. Haru turned away and then glanced over to his right where Makoto would usually walk beside him but now was only empty space.

‘Was Makoto wearing a scarf today?’ he absentmindedly wondered.

He tried to remember this morning, trying to find any indication in his memories that Makoto had indeed brought a scarf with him. Haru shook his head.

‘He wouldn’t nag me about it if he didn’t bring one for himself.’

Still, was he wearing one this morning? Haru couldn’t remember. He slowed down his pace, in hopes that it would... help refresh his memory. Every now and then he’d glance back, expecting Makoto to be running up to him, apologizing for taking so long. Only then would he be able to confirm whether or not he was. Haru was getting a bit antsy about it. As if he knew but wasn’t sure and wouldn’t be satisfied until he was.

When Haru reached Mutsuki bridge, he started to feel a bit ridiculous. Makoto would catch up. He always did. Then when he does, Haru would see a scarf wrapped snugly around his neck. That gentle smile of his ever-present. Haru started speeding up his pace once again but was yet again interrupted upon seeing a figure standing by the railings of the bridge. Haru immediately recognized her as a classmate but her name escapes him. Haru thought to ignore her as he had really no business with her. But unfortunately, his usually forgotten presence was, well... forgotten.

“Ah, Nanase-kun. Good morning!” she greeted him cheerily though she seemed much more subdued than her usual self.

Haru politely gave back the greeting, though he couldn’t help that stutter in his voice at the beginning. He could feel his ears redden. Jeez. It was Makoto who was good at dealing with these kinds of things. And he was nowhere to be found. Probably sensing his discomfort, the girl smiled at him, much more brightly this time. Haru relaxed a little. She cocked her head to one side curiously.

“You aren’t with Tachibana-kun today?” she asked.

“Yeah.” came Haru’s short response.

“Ah. I see...”

Haru regretted being too blunt sometimes as he tried to follow it up with an explanation.

“...he had to do something.”

The girl nodded.

“...”

“...”

Haru inwardly sighed. He really was no good at this. How he wanted nothing more right now than to jump into the waters and let himself be enveloped by its calming embrace as he phased out just about everything else above the surface. Haru looked out into the river stretching out from beneath the bridge and out into the vast sea. He wishes he were swimming in its waters.

But then he saw something that perturbed him. He couldn’t quite tell what it was exactly except that it was pink and fluffy and it was floating away farther and farther away from the bridge. He stepped a little closer to get a better look. The girl noticed him doing this and upon realization had furiously blushed.

“A-Ah...! T-That is— I-It’s just I—“ she suddenly stammered. Haru looked at her curiously.

“ T-the wind! It was so strong today that... that... _it_ was blown away.”

‘ _It_?’ Haruka thought, confused.

He looked back at the floating object and this time, upon closer inspection, was able to discern it. The girl covered her face with her hands, obviously flustered.

“M... My scarf.” she finally admitted.

As if on cue, a strong gust of wind blew suddenly past and nearly blew away Haru’s own scarf. Fortunately, he was able to clasp on to it for dear life before it flew off the bridge. He heard the girl giggle.

“See what I mean?”

Haru rearranged the fabric back around his neck more securely this time. As he did this, the girl had looked back at her scarf forlornly.

“My grandma gave me that scarf.” she suddenly spoke.

Haru looked up at his classmate after he had knotted his scarf and only then did he notice a few things about her. He could see her shoulders shivering lightly even though she wore a thick coat. Her nose and her cheeks were red.  She was starting develop a case of the sniffles as well.

For how long was she just standing there, Haru thought, just watching her scarf float farther and farther away?

“It’s no use.” Haru said.

“Eh?”

“You should... give up.”

The nameless girl stared at Haru, mildly surprised at his words. She looked back at the river where her scarf was starting to turn into nothing more than a dotted blur. A few seconds later, she turned to Haru and smiled.

“Yeah... I guess you’re right.”

* * *

 

It was 8:25 in the morning, five minutes before first period and still, the seat beside Haruka remained empty. Haru was beginning to get a bit anxious as he peered out the window, hoping to catch just a glimpse of Makoto running up to the gates, out of breath and probably late but nonetheless there. There were a number of things Haru was starting to regret about himself today. His lack of social skills, his blunt manner but the one that tops the list is his habit of leaving his phone back at home. If anything had happened, Haru would have no way of knowing. He had relied way too much on Makoto with these things.

“Good morning Nanase-kun!”

Haru looked up from his seat to find a classmate (again the name escapes him) smiling brightly at him. He was tall, though not as tall as Makoto, lanky and friendly-looking. And though Haru doesn’t remember a name, he recognizes him as the guy who sits in front of the now empty seat beside him.

Haru gave back the greeting, this time he was careful about not letting a single stutter show in his voice. More importantly, why were people so interested in striking up a conversation with him today? Was it because Makoto wasn’t there?

“Is Tachibana-kun out sick today?” the guy asked curiously, looking at the empty seat.

“Not really.” Haru answered, following his gaze. Though, really, he wouldn’t know now, would he?

Haru made a mental note to bring his phone to school more often.

“Do you know where he is?”

Haru shrugged his shoulders.

 “Ehh... That’s strange!” the guy said. “Aren’t you guys always together?”

The guy looked at Haru and grinned.

“Almost like a married couple, ya know? You guys even live in the same neighbourhood, right? Wait. Did you guys have a fight or something?”

Haru was starting to get annoyed at the nosy little shit and just decided to ignore him. Seeing as he won’t get an answer out of him, the other guy decided not to pry and instead said,

“Ehh~ I wonder where he might be...”

The stoic, raven-haired swimming boy sighed and wished he knew.

It was then that the bell rang and the guy who sat in front of Makoto and as well as the other students started shuffling back into their own seats. Amakata-sensei walked in moments later telling the class to settle down.

“Stand.”

“Bow.”

“Sit.”

_Still no Makoto._

At least class would momentarily distract Haru. He will just have to demand an explanation later on. That is if Makoto ever decides to show his face. Amakata-sensei was starting to take roll call and a name had caught Haru’s attention.

“ Ichinose Rumiko?”

Haruka realized that that was the name of the girl from the bridge earlier. When no response came, only then did it dawn upon Haru that she was not there inside the classroom. When he had left her at the bridge earlier, he had expected her to follow. Haru did not like that feeling he had in his gut. Something felt... off.

“My, that’s strange. Has anyone heard from Ms. Ichinose?”

When no one raised their hands, Amakata-sensei sighed and continued on with her list amd had eventually reached-

“Tachibana Makoto?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Eh? Even Tachibana-kun?” Amakata said in disbelief and looked over to his seat to confirm his absence.

These were her good students who barely played hooky. Was there some kind of bug going around? The teacher looked over to Haru who would surely know what happened to his childhood friend and yet when she asked him if he were perhaps out sick today, Haru only responded with a shake of his head.

As for Haru, that gut feeling did not go away and, if anything, had only worsened with each passing minute. Soon, Amakata-sensei finished with her roll call and began to start her lesson for the day when suddenly loud and heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway just outside. Haru perked up, that gut feeling momentarily forgotten, hoping that it was Makoto who would burst into those doors.

Needless to say, when a short, bald and sweaty old man came through the sliding doors, Haruka felt disappointed. Haru recognized him as their history teacher. He looked panicked which made that gut feeling Haru previously felt come back. He called for Amakata-sensei and told her that he needed to tell her something urgent. The younger teacher nodded, told the class to just open their textbooks and keep quiet before going outside to the hall with the History teacher.

When she locked the doors behind her, the class exploded into a buzz.

_“I wonder what happened.”_

_“Waa! How scary.”_

_“Did you see Senjou-sensei’s nose hair? Disgusting!”_

_“I bet someone got into an accident!”_

That last one had Haru reeling. That gut feeling intensified. The room spun and he felt like vomiting. He told himself to calm down and tried to block out his classmate’s voices. Pretend that he was in the pool. He was with the swim club, having fun, with Nagisa, Gou, Rei and...

‘...Makoto.’

Haru balled his hands into fists at his sides, clenching and unclenching. He looked out the window, desperately searching for any sign of his best friend. There was nothing. No one. The seat beside him had remained empty. Amidst the noisy classroom, he could barely make out the muffled voices of Amakata-sensei and Senjou-sensei talking. And Haru could feel himself get more and more restless.

He couldn’t take it. He suddenly stood up, the clattering of his desk and seat startled a few of his classmates as they turned to look at him. Haru was just about to leave to go to the bathroom via the backdoor when the front door slid open. The room fell into a hushed silence.

 Amakata-sensei walked in looking a bit dazed and nervous before looking around the room as if searching for someone. Haru felt his insides grow cold as her gaze landed on him.

“Nanase-kun. Could you come here a moment?”

It took a few seconds before Haru was able to move his limbs as they seemed to be frozen stiff. He slowly walked over to the teacher with his classmates’ curious stares following him out of the room. When the door locked behind him, the room had exploded into a buzz of muffled chatter.

“This is...?” Senjou-sensei said, pointing at Haruka.

“This Nanase Haruka... Tachibana-kun’s childhood friend.”

At the mentioning of Makoto’s name, Haru head snapped up. He hadn’t realized at all that he had been looking down at the floor the whole time. Why was he so surprised? He knew from the moment Amakata-sensei called him here outside that this was about Makoto. Perhaps a part of him, a _foolish_ part of him, wanted to deny the fact that Makoto had anything to do with this.

“Nanase-san, was it? Are you close with Tachibana-san?”

Haru nodded.

“I see...” The teacher tried to keep his voice placid but there was just that tiniest hint of pity before he turned to a more serious tone.

“ Nanase-san, I need you to stay calm when I tell you this...”

Haru felt his jaw clench. There was a distant ringing in his ears. He felt like his stomach was doing flips. That gut feeling had turned into a huge lump that formed in his throat that he struggled to swallow. Haru didn’t know when but his gaze had fallen back to the ground, at his shoes.

“Your friend has......”

Nothing. Haru heard nothing. Or he wasn’t able to register the words in his mind. It was as if for a moment, his body and mind had separated. He could feel his jaw slacken, his mouth go ajar, his eyes widen. He could feel his heart pound violently at his chest. His whole body seemed to be shaking. _But, at what?_ Haru didn’t know. And he was so tired of second-guessing.

So Haru tried to desperately to listen to the history teacher’s words, desperately wanted to know what has happened to Makoto. He closed his eyes and tried to focus but was only able to make out a few words.

“... -suki bridge... ...”

“... ... Ichino-... ...Rumi-...”

“... ... found them... already... ...”

“... ...hospital...”

“... ... ...”

Haru’s eyes shot wide open and before either Amakata-sensei or Senjou-sensei could react, Haru had pushed past through them and ran like hell. Again his mind and body seemed like two separate entities. While his body had urged him to get to Makoto’s side immediately, his mind couldn’t help but repeat the last thing he remembered Senjou-sensei said.

“... drowned.”

**TBC**

(probably lol)

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously though, I'm not sure if I have the time to actually continue this (lol) Thank you for reading!!! If you read all the way to the end or only halfway through or maybe just two words in, I'd still like to give you my most heartfelt gratitude! Nothing makes me more happy than when people take time out of their lives to read my crappy writing :D Thank you so much. I am such a dork. 
> 
> Anyway! I'd very much like to hear what you think about it! Constructive criticism is much appreciated! 'Til the next time then! (maybe lol srsly dunno if i can continue dis ; - ;)


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